After German, US diplomat summoned by India for remarks on Kejriwal's arrest: Here's what US State Dept said

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Wednesday summoned the US’ Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena in Delhi, two days after the US government said it was “closely monitoring” the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and encourage a “fair, transparent, and timely legal process”.

The meeting lasted for approximately 40 minutes.

India strongly objects to US State Department Spokesperson’s remarks

The MEA, in a statement, said the Indian government takes strong objection to the remarks of the Spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India.

“In diplomacy, states are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others. This responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the statement read.

“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the India’s foreign ministry said in the statement.

What US said on Kejriwal arrest?

On Monday, a spokesperson of the US State Department said Washington is closely following reports of the arrest of Kejriwal and encourages a fair legal process.

“We encourage a fair, transparent, and timely legal process for Chief Minister Kejriwal,” Reuters reported the US spokesperson saying in response to an emailed query about the case, in which India summoned a German envoy on Saturday to protest against his government’s remarks about the arrest.

On Saturday, India summoned German deputy chief of mission and lodged a strong protest against the country’s foreign ministry’s remarks on the arrest of Kejriwal.

The German envoy Georg Enzweiler was summoned by officials in MEA and was told that the German Foreign Ministry’s remarks on Kejriwal’s arrest were an interference in India’s judicial process and any “biased assumptions” were “most unwarranted”, an MEA official said.

On Friday Sebastian Fischer, spokesperson for Germany’s foreign office said, Berlin had taken note.

“We assume and expect that the standards relating to independence of judiciary and basic democratic principles will also be applied in this case,” Fischer said, adding that like anyone else facing accusations, Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial.

Delhi chief Minister and national convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. He was produced before a court which remanded him to the agency’s custody till March 28.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was scrapped later.

With inputs from agencies